An electrical plug connection having two connectors that can be detachably coupled to one another is known from German Patent No. DE 41 15 119.
The first connector has a contact carrier. Formed in the contact carrier are receiving chambers in which in each case one contact element is located. The contact elements are each connected via a connection segment to a cable. Clustered as a cable harness, the cables are brought out of the first connector on the reverse side. In a closed plug connection, the contact elements are electroconductively connected via contact segments to the appropriate contact parts of the second connector.
To seal the plug connection between the connectors, a sealing ring of an elastic material runs around the outside of the contact carrier of the first connector, the sealing ring engaging with a side surface of a sleeve-shaped flange of the second connector and deforming in a resilient manner when the two connectors are joined.
If such a plug connection is used in a motor vehicle, the connection is stressed during the operation of the motor vehicle by vibrational stresses, and relative movements occur between the two connectors since they are elastically coupled via the seal. These relative movements also occur between the contact elements of the first connector and the contact parts of the second connector, and they can result in the touching contact surfaces of the contact elements and the contact parts wearing through. The contacting is then carried out via the less effective contacting carrier material of these elements, thereby no longer ensuring the contact reliability of the plug connection. As a result, the performance reliability of the plug connection is undesirably affected.